Diya Indian Cuisine

The food was so flavorful and tasty, my parents tried indian food for the first time and they absolutely loved it! We tried the goat and it was delicious. They gave us great recommendations of things to try. We also tried two types of dessert both were delicious. Everyone was so nice and welcoming 10/10 would come back.

Not 100% sure but the reviews might be fake/boosted. There’s a ton of reactions and likes for every good review, which is abnormal especially for this platform. In summary, our experience was very poor at this restaurant. Other than the nice atmosphere, everything was subpar and left a lot to be desired. As a note, we didn’t see too many Indian customers in the restaurant, so that should give a clue about the place. We had the chicken tikka masala, goat vindaloo, chicken biryani, and garlic naan. For starters, the garlic naan was not crispy or fluffy, and had light notes of garlic. Flavor wise it was fine, more on the lighter side, but it should be at least crispy and fluffy instead of chewy. The chicken tikka masala had a ton of nice buttery, savory notes but it lacked any real spice and depth apart from the savoriness. It was also a bit on the sweeter side, which could appeal to some audiences. I was very disappointed however with the goat vindaloo, which looked appetizing but lacked any substantial flavor. All I really tasted was some spiciness; the rest tasted a bit watered down. The chicken biryani was standard. No real complaints or compliments for it. At around $22-23 per dish, I would expect the portions to be a lot bigger, but the bowls they came in were no bigger than the size of my hand. At least if the quality isn’t as great then serve more food. We had four people at our table, and we all definitely had room in our stomachs by the end of the meal. We also had a hard, undercooked potato in the vindaloo. I would assume potatoes are relatively easy to prepare, but I guess not in this case. We knew it was uncooked because you could stab a fork in it and it would give resistance and/or maintain its shape instead of splitting like a soft potato would. Service was also extremely slow. It took about 30 minutes to receive our food. We did get complimentary dessert at the end, which was nice but only two “slightly-bigger” custard cups for the entire table. Again, with the theme of portion sizes, everything seems to be portioned so small here. It would be acceptable if the prices were low, which unfortunately is not the case. I would definitely NOT recommend this restaurant to any friends or family. I do not think this establishment is an authentic representation of Indian cuisine, and you can definitely find better places for a MUCH better meal. **Edit after Business Reply** “Your comments was really conflict of interest. There are no fake reviews.it was abnormal for you . All reviews were made from customers including your fake and blaming comments. You don't know how to write too. Copy and paste from ChatGPT.” Moving to one star after the unprofessional business reply. The fact that the owner thinks my basic review was from ChatGPT says a lot about their competency as a business owner. Instead of taking criticism to improve the quality of their dishes, they decide to instead berate customers who give their honest opinions about their restaurant. There is video and picture proof for some of the comments that I have made about the restaurant, along with why I gave the ratings that I have given. This restaurant has a lot of potential to be vastly successful given the location and the atmosphere. Maybe a change of management could do the restaurant wonders, especially for how empty it was on Mother’s day weekend.

The food? Well the food is typical Indian food, full of flavor and all that stuff. They gave me a free rice pudding because they didn’t think I could handle the spiciest dish on the menu. The samosas were good, small portion but they were good. The waiter and staff were very attentive, made me feel like I was worth something. Which is good cause most Alexandrians don’t. Have fun, order anything, it’s good.